The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world largest aircraft carrier, returned home to Virginia on Saturday after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, that saw it support the U.S. war with Iran and the capture of Nicolás Maduro when he was Venezuela’s president.
The most advanced U.S. warship and two accompanying destroyers docked at Naval Station Norfolk with about 5,000 sailors waiting to see their families for the first time since June. Besides combat operations and traversing continents, the sailors aboard the carrier faced a noncombat-related fire that left hundreds without places to sleep and forced lengthy repairs on the Greek island of Crete.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on hand for the arrival of the warships, which included the destroyer USS Bainbridge.
Hegseth commended the crew of the Bainbridge for a “job well done.”
“You didn’t just accomplish a mission, you made history,” Hegseth said on the destroyer’s deck. “You made a nation proud.”
